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| Sisters Marianne Stoeger, back row right, and Margareta Pissar, back row left, pose with co-workers treating leprosy patients on Soroko Island off the southern Korean coast in this picture taken in 1970 at the Sorokdo National Hospital. / Courtesy of Goheung County Office |
By Kang Seung-woo
A local county office will recommend two Austrian nuns for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their devotion to treating leprosy patients for over 40 years on a remote island off the southern Korean coast.
According to the Goheung County on Wednesday, South Jeolla Province, it plans to recommend Sisters Marianne Stoeger and Margareta Pissar for the prestigious prize, among others, in its program to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sorokdo National Hospital that falls on May 17. Sorok is an island located about 1 kilometer off the mainland.
Stoeger and Pissar came to Korea in their late 20s, in 1959 and 1962 respectively, to work as nurses at the state-run leprosy hospital established in 1916 and treat patients suffering from the disease.
Since then, they've committed themselves to taking care of leprosy patients for over 40 years, buying medicine and physical therapy equipment with money out of their own pockets and inviting foreign medical teams to treat patients.
They returned home in 2005.
"Given that their sacrifice can become a paragon of the spirit of sharing in this era of material civilization, the planned recommendation can have a huge significance in marking the 100th anniversary of Sorokdo National Hospital," said an official of the office.
The office said that their sacrifice encouraged visits by humanitarian aid organizations and volunteers to the island every year, with Sorok labeled as the "Heaven of volunteering."
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, affects the nerves and can cause deformities and skin disorders. The condition is not infectious once treated and a cure was found in the 1940s.
However, during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation, colonial authorities selected the island as a place for the quarantining of patients with Hansen's disease and hundreds of Korean lepers were mobilized to produce war supplies, while subjected to forced sterilizations and abortions.
While serving on the island, the two women were called "halmae" (grandma) by patients, because they had been as kind to them as grandmothers.
To recognize their devotion, the Korean government presented them with medals in 1972, 1983 and 1996.
Along with their 40-plus-year commitment, their departure also drew attention.
On Nov. 21, 2005, the two nuns returned home without saying goodbye to avoid an emotional farewell with patients and residents there. They only gave a day's notice to the hospital and left a letter saying that they left quietly because they did not want to give pain in the wrench of parting.
"We thank you very much for everything you did for us. Your hospitality was as high as Heaven. You showed love and admiration to strangers. If we did anything wrong to you, we beg your pardon," they wrote in Korean.
Along with the Nobel Prize recommendation, the county office plans to make a documentary shedding light on the two nuns' lives and build a memorial hall to honor them.
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